the leaves of the iris are constantly monitoring light environment. they're actually may sewering how long the night is. >> reporter: it has nothing to do with summer. it is all about recognizing... >> the length of the day and the length of the night. >> reporter: this blooming iris was captured in time lapse video by film maker lewis swarsberg. the images show case the wonder of these plants. which can detect and respond to light even color. >> just like we can see red, blue and green, plants can see red, blue and even u.v. light. >> reporter: in some ways plants have a greater spectrum of light. >> they see more than we do. from a plant's point of view we're visually challenged. we only have four or five photo receptors, proteins that can see the light in our bodies. plants have like 13. >> they don't have sense organs in the way that we do. they don't have eyes or ears or noses, but they have receptors. and that's the level at which humans and plants are the same. >> reporter: amy litt is the director of plant-gemomics at the botanical garden. she